How to Play Tiddlywinks

By Jaques of London · Est. 1795 · Updated 2026-08-17

Tiddlywinks was first registered and published by Jaques of London in 1888.

Tiddlywinks is a flicking game for 2 to 4 players in which small plastic discs are shot into a central cup using a larger pressing disc. It demands a steady hand, sharp aim, and the tactical wit to block opponents as well as advance your own pieces. It is fast to learn, compact to carry, and genuinely competitive at every age.

Tiddlywinks was first registered and published by Jaques of London in 1888. It is played on a flat felt mat at a kitchen table or on the floor, needs no power source, and travels easily in its own tin or pouch, making it a perennial favourite for family play.

A little history

Tiddlywinks was first patented in Britain in the late nineteenth century and quickly became a popular parlour and family game. Its precise folk origins before that point are unclear. In the twentieth century a competitive adult form of the game developed, particularly at Cambridge and Oxford universities from the late 1950s onwards, with organised clubs, formal tournaments, and an agreed set of match rules that are still in use today. The spelling and the name's etymology are both uncertain, though the word 'tiddly' has long carried informal British connotations of smallness.

Setting up

1. Place the felt mat on a firm, flat surface free of bumps or creases.
2. Set the cup (pot) upright in the exact centre of the mat.
3. Each player chooses a colour and takes all 6 winks of that colour.
4. In a 4-player game, players of opposite colours form a partnership: blue and red play together against green and yellow.
5. Each player places their 6 winks on the baseline nearest to them, or in a cluster at their corner, depending on the ruleset being used.
6. Decide who goes first. Traditionally, each player squops a single wink towards the pot; the player whose wink lands closest shoots first, and play continues clockwise.

How to play

1. On your turn you have one shot (one 'play'), unless a special rule grants an extra turn.
2. To shoot, place your squidger on top of a wink so that it overlaps the edge, then press and slide firmly downward to flick the wink through the air.
3. Your aim on each shot is either to pot a wink (land it inside the cup) or to squop an opponent's wink (land one of your winks on top of theirs).
4. A squopped wink is out of play for its owner: they cannot move it until it is freed. The player whose wink sits on top may move the pile or attempt to pot the squopped wink.
5. If you pot one of your own winks, you immediately take another shot. You continue shooting as long as you keep potting.
6. If you squop an opponent's wink you do not earn an extra shot; your turn ends after the single play.
7. A wink that leaves the mat entirely is brought back to the nearest point on the mat edge and is considered squopped (out of play) until your next turn, when you may play it from that spot without the squop penalty, unless the rules in use state otherwise.
8. Play passes clockwise. Partners alternate turns rather than one partner completing all their shots before the other begins.
9. The round continues until one player (or partnership) has potted all six of their winks, triggering the 'free-pot' phase, or until an agreed time limit ends the round.

Winning and scoring

A player who pots all six of their winks calls out and earns a potting-out win for their side. In competitive play the opposing side then has one final round of turns (a 'free-pot' continuation) to attempt to close the gap on the tally.

If no one pots out, scoring is based on winks potted. Each potted wink scores 3 points. Winks still on the mat that are not squopped score 1 point each. Squopped winks score nothing. Out of a possible 24 winks on the table in a full 4-player game, the partnership or player with the highest points total wins. In match play the winning side takes 4 match points; the losing side takes none, with partial points available for close results under competition scoring tables.

The fine points

The most common dispute is whether a wink is genuinely squopped or merely touching. The rule is clear: a wink is squopped only if another wink rests on top of it, however small the overlap. Winks that merely touch side by side are both fully in play. When a pile contains winks of multiple players, only the topmost wink's owner may move the pile, and any shot that disturbs a squopped wink without the correct player shooting it is a foul.

A wink that lands on the cup's rim but does not fall in does not count as potted; it remains in play where it rests. If a wink bounces out of the cup after appearing to land inside, it is not potted: only a wink that comes to rest inside the cup counts. In partnership play, if one partner has potted out, their partner still takes their normal turns shooting the remaining winks. You may not 'help' a partner by shooting their winks; each player shoots only their own colour throughout the game.

How to win more often

• Build a 'pile' early by squopping several opponent winks with one of your own, then using your turns to consolidate control rather than making low-percentage pot attempts.
• Pot from close range first to earn extra shots, then use those bonus shots to push deeper winks closer to the cup.
• When your winks are squopped, your priority once freed is to move to a safe open position rather than immediately attempting the pot.
• In partnership play, one partner can focus on offensive potting while the other concentrates on squopping and controlling opponent winks, dividing the tactical workload deliberately.
• Vary your squidger angle and pressure in practice: a steeper press produces more height and less forward travel, useful for lobbing over a pile, while a shallower press gives distance and skid for attacking shots across the mat.

Variations

Singles (2-player)

Each player takes two colours (12 winks in total each) and plays all the standard rules without partnership scoring. All tactical principles remain the same, and it is the most common way for two players to get a full strategic game from a standard set.

Target Tiddlywinks

Instead of a cup, a flat target sheet marked with concentric scoring rings is placed on the mat. Players take turns flicking winks towards the target and accumulate points based on which ring each wink lands in. No squopping is involved, making this a straightforward aim-and-score version well suited to younger children.

Speed Tiddlywinks

A sand timer or countdown clock (typically 60 seconds per player) is used and each player must complete their shots before time runs out or forfeit that turn. The time pressure forces rapid decisions, reduces strategic deliberation, and suits a rowdier, faster family session.

Freestyle (Pot-only)

Squopping is not permitted: players may only attempt to pot their own winks. The winner is simply the first to pot all six. This stripped-back version is the easiest introduction for young children or total beginners and removes the need to explain the squopping rules entirely.

Tiddlywinks: frequently asked questions